Travel

Letting the kids try various different types of art was one of my aims during our December holiday trip to Taiwan. Pottery was one of the things which I would love the kids to try out and we got the chance at Li Tao Wan Pottery.

The instructor taking out the clay for use.

It was the first time the kids saw a pottery workshop and experience how to manipulate the potter’s wheel. As far as I know this kind of experience is not readily available here in Singapore. They were really privileged to try it last December.

The boys at the pottery wheels

It looked like a scene out of Ghost where Demi More was making her vase on a similar wheel.

Doggie boy getting to do his art work.

The boys had to dampen their hands with water before starting on shaping their piece of clay.

The boys testing out the pedal to start their wheels spinning

The instructor telling us how to use the cutters on the clay

Tiger girl is too little to work the potter’s wheel so we used cutters and our hands to make our own art work.

The instructor doing a sample for Tiger girl to follow

Pressing on the clay to make the base

We started on our design once the instructor gave us our piece of clay to play with.

Tiger girl and my design taking place

Tiger girl and I decided on making a clay house which had a Christmas tree in the backyard.

The inside of the backyard- The Christmas Tree

It was really fun to use the different imprints that we available to us to design our clay figurine.

Tiger girl add a snowman to the back of the house

I love the details which Tiger girl made using the different presses that we were given.

the boys handiwork

Doggie boy made a cup while Monkey Boy made a bowl with his piece of clay.

We had to wait about 4-6 weeks after the artwork was done before we could receive it as they only did batch firing in their kiln.

One of the activities which I always wanted to try as a kid is picking strawberries from a strawberry farm. Doggie boy and Tiger girl love eating strawberries. They loves all forms of strawberry from the actual fruit to its jam and ice-cream.

The kids getting ready to pluck their strawberries

All of us were really thrilled when the opportunity was presented to us personally experience plucking strawberries. There are many such farms in Taiwan and I requested that the we visit one.

Tiger girl deciding on where to pluck the strawberries from

Getting ready to pick with her basket

We randomly stopped by a strawberry farm to pluck strawberries. What we learned from the farmers that we need to use scissors to cut off the strawberries with the stem intact. This prevents the plant from bruising and keeps it in prime condition.

The strawberry plant

It was extremely hot that day so we didn’t spend much time picking strawberries. Even though there wasn’t really a limit on the amount of strawberries we could pluck I gave the kids a quota.

bees on the flowers

While selecting the strawberries to pluck I came across quite a few bees buzzing around the flowers. I manage to capture this shot of a bee who rested for a few seconds on a flower.